The things I love best – photography, eating, & running.

Category Archives: Inspiration

This week, Disney runners are packing up their tutus and donning their mouse ears, gearing up for 2016’s Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. I am more than a little jealous. One day, I will be closer. One day, I will run all the races. Today…well, today is not that day.

Until then, let’s take a look at some of my (latest) favorite costumes from past runDisney events! As a warning, you won’t find any princesses here. There’s an entire race in February just for them.

Let’s begin with Cinderella’s stepsisters – Anastasia and Drizella. This has long been a favorite of mine, but I’ve never had a runDisney buddy to try it with.

Of course, I have to include Cruella de Vil. You’ve seen her here before, and you’ll probably see her again. I tried to recreate this one myself, but I didn’t look near as awesome as Kelly does.

This BB-8 costume is outstanding. This gal was at a different Disney event, but I saw something very similar at the Star Wars 10K last January while waiting to begin. HER ARMS ARE INSIDE. I prayed that poor girl wouldn’t trip.

Are there any Inside Out fans among us? This is a great idea for a large group.

This last one is my very favorite…

The Disneyland Churro! Click over and read the post. That costume is SCENTED! I’ll bet there were a lot of runners craving churros that day.

No matter what race you’re running this weekend, good luck to you, costumed wonders!

Y’all, I am a terrible blogger. I hardly ever remember to write. I have been so wrapped up in learning to balance my new schedule with work and family and just normal life in general that I’m afraid I don’t have much interesting to say.

Then again, maybe it will be interesting…to somebody.

The last time I wrote, I was not in a great place. I’d completely upended my schedule to fit in more workouts and try to prep meals for the week all at one time. And feed my children completely separate meals. I’m really glad I didn’t just give up. I knew there was a solution, a way to balance everything and make it work. I just had to find it!

Step one: Quit trying to pre-cook a week’s worth of meals. This works for some people. For me, it just…doesn’t. If I’m going to be in the kitchen cooking the kids’ dinner, I might as be well cooking mine and John’s simultaneously. I enjoy taking a break from the computer to stand in the kitchen and prepare a meal at the end of the day. I needed to take that time back. As soon as I did, I started to feel less overwhelmed. It also gives me the freedom to change up our proteins and veggies in the evening if we’re not “feeling” the basics in our original meal plans.

Step two: Take a deep breath and ask your trainer how to combine workouts and cut back on the gym time a little bit. I originally had a workout on my calendar every day of the week but Sunday. I managed it the first week, but I felt like I was neglecting other areas of my life to be at the gym. Now, I weight train three days a week, and I still try to fit in cardio every day but Sunday. I’ve stopped guilting myself to death when I can’t manage everything, though. Sometimes, things happen and I don’t make it. I’m learning to regroup and reboot the next day.

Step three: Remind yourself that you work from home. You make your own schedule. It doesn’t matter if you are getting most of your work done in the afternoon, because the gym is less crowded in the morning. You’re getting your work done!

All in all, I’m feeling much better and very satisfied with how things are going now. I’ve re-learned how best to feed myself, what to feed myself, and when to feed myself. I’ve lost a little bit of weight, but more importantly, I’m super happy with my progress photos. I don’t know that I’ll ever be brave enough to actually share them, but this mama will not be afraid of her swim suits come summer.

The best thing is – now that I’ve gotten into a rhythm, I am confident that I’ll be able to continue down the right path with my diet and exercise. Tiffany has made my goals feel very attainable. I am working hard, but I don’t feel like I’m hurting my body to get results (ex. starvation-type diets). She’s even going to give me a separate meal plan for when I decide to start training for another run.

If you are looking for a personal trainer with a great program, Tiffany is awesome! Here’s her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/crzyfit

We’ve been doing her 6-week online program. You can do it from anywhere!

“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

I’ve been MIA for a little bit. To the handful of you who’ve actually missed me, I apologize for that. Life is happening, and lately, it seems to be happening at an ever-quickening pace. I may discuss that later in the week, but not today.

Coincidentally, the message that is coming through loud and clear in everything I’ve been reading in my Bible, hearing in sermons, seeing in my devotional books is this: God is in control. Not me. Never me. God. I need to let it go. Ha! See what I did there? Referencing popular culture? I’m so cool.

I got another lesson about who is in charge this morning. I thought my day was going pretty well. I got up early, without hitting the snooze button on my alarm. I went for a run. I walked the dog. I packed my boy’s lunch and fed him breakfast. I unloaded the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, and even managed to feed myself before 8:00am. When it was time to drive my little man to school….no keys. I searched in all the usual places before I remembered that I’d set them on John’s bumper after running an errand last night, and I was pretty sure they had still been there when he left for work this morning.

Thankfully, we weren’t running behind, so I switched gears and walked Aidan to school. Also thankfully, we don’t live very far from his school. I checked the street and the first couple of turns John would have made on his way to work on our walk home and didn’t find the keys. My only hope was that they’d somehow managed to safely ride the bumper all the way to work with him, and that I could call and ask him to retrieve them for me.

When I came back inside, there was a message on my phone from an unfamiliar number. Someone found my keys! In the street! And he called the number on my Petco card to track me down! I had my keys back within 30 minutes of noticing they were missing. God is good. I couldn’t have planned that myself.

I’m glad I rolled with the punches and never truly got upset about this today, because like that verse up there says, I’ve got to quit trying so hard and let God be God. 🙂

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?…Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6: 25-26, 34

The daily devotional book I use referenced this Bible passage today. Interestingly enough, the title for the section is “The Cure for Anxiety.” There is a lot of anxiety going around in my community today. Our representatives in Washington D.C. have little more than 14 hours to reach a budget agreement before the government will be shut down, and Senators aren’t even showing up until 2:00pm. People will be out of work and the pay that they depend on. There’s a bill in the works that helps those of us that rely on an active duty service member’s pay to support our family, but should it be rejected, military will report to work without pay until a budget is agreed upon. People are freaking out. Freaking. Out.

Rightly so. We are losing faith in our representatives. Their pay isn’t affected by a shut down. They have no real incentive to come to an agreement, it seems. They want to point fingers and pass blame. What will a government shut down prove? It’s not making me side with anyone, not even the people I voted for. I’m incredibly disappointed in general. They’re trying to make a point at the expense of a whole lot of hardworking Americans. I’d like to see what would happen if someone played chicken with their paychecks.

Regardless of what happens, I needed to read that passage in Matthew today. This particular situation is completely out of my hands. We have just received our end of month paycheck, and it could be the last for a little while. Do not worry. God will provide. If it becomes necessary, let’s band together and help our neighbors and friends, and remember that we are all in this mess called life together.

Ladies, if you haven’t watched this video yet, do it now. It will be three minutes well spent. What in incredible reminder that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to looks. I hate seeing photos of myself. I can almost always find something wrong. To quote the video, “You are more beautiful than you think.” Wow. Just wow.